Hop balls

ABSTRACT

Exercise and play apparatus in the form of hop balls are described. The balls beneficially may omit conventional handles, hence avoiding transfer of balance-maintenance responsibility to users&#39; hands and arms. Instead, users&#39; thighs engage a generally-spherical upper portion of the hop balls for balance, leading to higher core muscle engagement and greater caloric loss than does play on existing balls.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to apparatus for play or exercise and more particularly, although not necessarily exclusively, to innovative hop balls lacking any conventional handle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

For many years children have enjoyed bouncing on, and otherwise playing with, hop balls. Seemingly throughout millennia such balls have been generally spherical in shape, made of natural or synthetic rubber, and inflated with air. Importantly, conventional hop balls each include a handle to be grasped by the user; absent existence of the handle, a user would be unable to balance for any extended period while sitting on the ball and unable to control its movement when bouncing. Indeed, normal balance while bouncing on a hop ball is achieved by a user grasping and pulling upward on the handle while contacting the ball with his or her buttocks and, at times, the backs of his or her thighs or legs.

While bouncing on hop balls undoubtedly is fun, the activity is not optimized for exercise purposes—especially working core muscles and burning calories. This is largely a function of the existence of the handle, as it transfers responsibility for balance on a ball to the user's forearms, hands, and fingers. Thus, conventional hop balls are not well suited as vehicles for weight-loss purposes or other exercise.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, by contrast, provides hop balls very well suited for exercise and weight-loss purposes. In particular, the innovative hop balls are “hands-free,” omitting the conventional handle and hence inhibiting (if not wholly preventing) users from using their arms, hands, and fingers to maintain balance on the balls. Instead, preferred versions of the invention include two generally-spherical portions separated by a narrower neck, with the upper of the two portions having materially smaller diameter than the lower of the two portions. Users' thighs contact and squeeze the upper portions of the balls. As a consequence, thigh muscles must be used to maintain balance on hop balls of the present invention, leading to higher core muscle engagement and greater caloric loss than does play on conventional balls.

Like conventional balls, hop balls of the invention may be made of natural or synthetic rubber. Any other suitably-resilient material alternatively may be used. The inventive hop balls additionally may be inflated with air (as is conventional) or any appropriate liquid, solid, or gas. These balls preferably are molded with the two portions and neck being integral, although other manufacturing or forming techniques may be employed instead.

It thus is an optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide novel apparatus for play or exercise.

It is another optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide hop balls designed to exercise, among others, thigh muscles of users.

It is also an optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide hop balls omitting conventional handles.

It is a further optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide hop balls comprising two generally-spherical portions of different diameters.

It is, moreover, an optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide hop balls in which a generally-spherical portion of smaller diameter is atop a base portion of larger diameter.

It is an additional optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide hop balls in which the generally-spherical portions are integral part of the balls and separated by a neck.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the appropriate field with reference to the remaining text and the drawings of this application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary hop ball of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the hop ball of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the hop ball of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates the hop ball of FIG. 11 in use by a user.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Depicted in FIGS. 1-4 is exemplary hop ball 10 of the present invention. As illustrated, hop ball 10 may include a lower portion or base 14 as well as upper portion 18. Separating base 14 and upper portion 18 may be neck 22. Notably absent from hop ball 10 is any conventional “handle,” as the types of finger-grasped handles used for existing hop balls are intentionally omitted.

Base 14, upper portion 18, and neck 22 advantageously are integrated components of hop ball 10, although those skilled in the art may, if desired, form any of these components separately and thereafter attach them together. Indeed, preferred versions of hop ball 10 are molded in a single piece if possible or two pieces that are then sonically welded or otherwise connected together. Hop ball 10 typically is formed of natural or synthetic rubber; other resilient materials may be used instead, however.

Hop ball 10 beneficially may be hollow, with each of base 14, upper portion 18, and neck 22 configured to receive air or other inflation fluid. In this case ball 10 may include a valve (not shown) suitable to allow partial or complete filling of the hollow interior and to retain most or all of the fluid within the interior. Such valve also may allow fluid to exit the interior when desired so as to reduce the overall volume of ball 10 for, e.g., transit or storage. Alternatively, the interior of hop ball 10 may be solid (or filled in whole or in part with solid material), although this configuration is not presently preferred.

FIGS. 2-3 provide sample dimensions of hop ball 10. As shown in the elevational view of FIG. 2, height H of ball 10 may have total height of approximately 85 cm. Diameter of base 14 may approximate 60 cm see FIG. 3), while diameter of upper portion 18 may be approximately 20.3 cm. Hop ball 10 need not be sized in the manner illustrated, however, and instead may have other sizes as appropriate or desired.

As shaped, base 14 is predominantly, or generally, spherical, as is upper portion 18 of hop ball 10. Variations in shape of base 14 are permissible as long as satisfactory bounciness of hop ball 10 is maintained. Likewise, upper portion 18 too may vary in shape if necessary or desired. Neck 22 need not have any particular size or shape, although it beneficially may have length and width substantially smaller than the diameter of upper portion 18 so as to be materially narrower than either base 14 or upper portion 18.

A generally-spherical shape for upper portion 18 is preferred, however, to facilitate interaction with, in particular, thigh muscles of a user. FIG. 4 depicts such a human user U employing hop ball 10 for exercise or play purposes. Illustrated is user U sitting on ball 10 with her buttocks in contact with base 14 and her thighs contacting upper portion 18 and partially surrounding both it and neck 22. To assist maintaining her balance on ball 10 as it bounces, user U squeezes upper portion 18 with her thigh muscles. This action also likely tensions buttocks and other muscles of user U, leading to high core muscle engagement between the user U and ball 10. Initial testing indicates use of hop ball 10 comes at higher caloric cost than does use of conventional hop balls with handles, thus potentially increasing weight loss of user U for a given interaction with ball 10.

The foregoing is provided for purposes of illustrating, explaining, and describing embodiments of the present invention. Modifications and adaptations to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art and may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. Indeed, for example, although the words “lower” and “upper” appear herein in relation to base 14 and portion 18, such words do not imply that portion 18 is always above base 14 or that, when above base 14, portion 18 is directly above base 14 relative to the ground or another surface. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A hop ball comprising: a. a base; and b. an upper portion configured in use so as to be contacted by thighs, but not grasped by fingers, of a user.
 2. A hop ball according to claim 1 in which each of the base and upper portion is generally spherical in shape.
 3. A hop ball according to claim 2 in which each of the base and upper portion has a diameter, with the diameter of the base being larger than the diameter of the upper portion.
 4. A hop ball according to claim 3 omitting any finger-graspable handle.
 5. A hop ball according to claim 4 further comprising a neck connecting the base and the upper portion.
 6. A hop ball according to claim 5 in which each of the base, upper portion, and neck, is hollow and filled with inflation fluid for use.
 7. A hop ball according to claim 6 formed of resilient material selected from the group consisting of natural and synthetic rubbers.
 8. A method of exercising comprising: a. sitting atop a hop ball with buttocks in contact with a base of the hop ball and thighs in contact with and squeezing an upper portion of the hop ball; and b. causing the hop ball to bounce on a surface while continuing to sit atop the hop ball. 